


Open Up To Me (So I Can Help)

by Cinnabunni



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire | Pokemon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire Versions
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Bittersweet Ending, Bruises, Childhood Friends, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Platonic Cuddling, Pre-Canon, Pre-Relationship, they're around 15-16 years old in this fic, they're kids in this fic, well its kinda open ended
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:35:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26151211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cinnabunni/pseuds/Cinnabunni
Summary: “Jeez, what happened to your face?”Maxie didn’t answer, only just gave him a glare. “Are you going to let me inside or what?”~Or, Maxie comes over to Archie's house slightly hurt, and Archie takes care of him.
Relationships: Aogiri | Archie & Matsubusa | Maxie, Aogiri | Archie/Matsubusa | Maxie (pre-relationship)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 40





	Open Up To Me (So I Can Help)

“Jeez, what happened to your face?”

Maxie didn’t answer, only just gave him a glare. “Are you going to let me inside or what?”

Moving out of the way, Archie let Maxie inside of the house, closing and locking the door behind him. “M’ parents are out right now, so it’s just us.”

“Good,” Maxie said, taking a seat on the couch. “Your mother doesn’t like it when I enter your house hurt for some reason, which I can’t understand; I mean, you get bruises and get hurt practically everyday, why does she fuss over me?”

“Well, first of all, Mom sees you as family, so of course she’ll be concerned,” Archie explained, joining him on the couch. “Also, I get into fights all the time, so it’s not concerning if I have bruises all over my arms or face. You on the other hand, you’re the type to make fun of people and get them angry, then run off before they can actually hurt you. Take off your glasses.”

“Why would I do that? I’m blind as a zubat without them.”

Archie gave a sigh. “So I can take a closer look at your face. Jeez, and I thought  _ you  _ were the smart one.” Grumbling under his breath, Maxie begrudgingly took off his glasses, and handed them to Archie. Archie, grabbing him by the chin, examined his face. There was a bruise already starting to form, right below his left eye, with a small cut just right above said eye.

“Stay right here, ‘kay? I’ll be right back,” Archie said, getting up.

“Yeah, well, it’s not like I can go anywhere without my glasses,” Maxie mumbled to himself (he was pretty sure that Archie placed them on the nearby table, but he wasn’t too sure--he couldn’t see where they were. Everything was a blur to him). Archie soon came back, and placed an ice pack in Maxie’s hand.

“Here; place it on the bruise. It’s already starting to form.” Maxie didn’t say anything, as he brought up the ice pack to his face--he flinched at the coldness of it, but continued to press it against his skin without saying anything. “So, who’s ass do I have to kick?”

Maxie froze. “What?”

“Who’s the person that did this to ya? Because trust me, I--move your hair, I need to look at that cut again--I am  _ so _ willing to beat their ass for you, y’know?”

Maxie didn’t say anything, as he brushed his hair over to the side. “It’s fine,” he finally said, “it’ll be fine.”

Archie scoffed. “Yeah, right. I’ll be right back, I’m gonna go get something. In the meantime, try to think up a good excuse on why I shouldn’t beat the person’s ass, okay?” When Archie left, Maxie was left alone with his thoughts, in the silence. Maxie gave a long sigh; he could tell Archie what happened, right? Of course he could, they’ve been best friends for almost ten years. But then again, this wasn’t Archie’s fight. Maxie should be the one to fix it (though, having Archie as moral support wouldn’t be too bad).

When Archie came back, he placed something into Maxie’s hand. “What’s this?”   
  
“It’s a hair band, so you don’t have to keep moving your hair from your face,” Archie said. Maxie tied his hair into a small ponytail; though it was quite messy, it did its job of keeping his hair away from his face. “So, wanna tell me who did this and what happened?”

“...No.”

Archie stared at him, and gave a sigh. “Max, if you think that I won’t figure this out, then you’re completely wrong.”

“And how do you plan on doing that?” Maxie said, taking the ice pack off his face (and was quickly followed by Archie grabbing his wrist, and forcing him to place the ice pack back onto the bruise).

Archie gave a smirk. “Annoying the hell out of you.”

Oh no. Maxie knew that this wasn’t going to end well.

“Was it someone from school? Because trust me, even if they’re like, a senior or junior, I’ll take them on.”

“Archie, you’re only a freshman.”

“Exactly! They’ll never see it comin’.”

Maxie gave a sigh, and shook his head. “Okay, answer this, then: why would a senior and-slash-or junior do this to me, hm? Why spend their time with a nobody sophomore like me?”

“No offense Maxie, but you can be kinda annoying at times,” Archie said. “You can at times come off as pretentious to some people, ‘specially during exam weeks.”

Maxie gave him a glare. “I’m just going to pretend that you didn’t just say that. Can I have my glasses back? How long do I need this ice pack, anyway?”

“I don’t know, I think for ten minutes? Fifteen? Something like that; so no, you can’t have your glasses back yet.” Maxie grumbled to himself, but went unnoticed by Archie. “Back to me guessing what happened to you.”

Maxie gave a sigh. “Seriously Archie, let it go. I’m fine. Besides, it was an accident.”

“What? Maxie, I don’t know if you know this, but accidents are things like my dad forgetting to pick me up after swimming lessons, or the teacher giving us the wrong homework. I don’t think punching a person can happen accidentally. Unless they were planning on punching someone else, and you just somehow happen to walk in the way because you were too investing in your book--actually, I won’t put that past you, that does one-hundred percent sound like something you’d do.”

Rolling his eyes, Maxie took off the ice pack. “That’s not what happened, but whatever. Now give me my glasses--I wanna be able to see.” Archie handed him the glasses, which Maxie hastily put on. He never said anything else, just picked up a nearby book on the table (one that Archie was pretty sure that Maxie left last time he visited, but he wasn’t too sure), and began to read. Knowing that Maxie didn’t want to talk about it any further, Archie silently picked up the remote from the table, and began to look for something to watch on the TV.

Archie didn’t say anything when Maxie soon began to rest his head on his shoulder as he continued to read. Maxie always preferred to be silently comforted than to actually talk about it, and that was fine by Archie. He was fine with just making him feel comfortable and safe, as long as he was happy. 

At some point, after an hour or so, Maxie had taken out the hair tie, letting his hair fall back down (and hang in front of his face which would sometimes get in the way of his reading), and had somehow went from just leaning his head on Archie’s shoulder to basically sitting in his lap. Archie didn’t seem to mind this, if he did he never said anything, so Maxie didn’t say anything about it, either. He just continued to read, and Archie continued to watch TV (well, most of the time he was watching it. At times he would read Maxie’s book over his shoulder).

“Would you mind if I stay the night here?” Maxie asked, out of the blue, eyes trained on the book. 

“Oh, yeah, it’s fine,” Archie answered. “Don’t think my parents will mind, either.”

“Okay, good, good…” Maxie didn’t say anything else, he just continued to read. While Archie really wanted to know what was bothering him--it was very clear that something was--he didn’t say anything. The two of them sat in the comfortable silence.

~~~

Maxie ate dinner at Archie’s place, even though he didn’t eat a lot. Archie’s parents were concerned about what happened to him, but he mostly brushed it off, telling them that he was fine and that everything was fine. Archie’s parents seemed to believe it, since they never pried about it. The evening went by fast, faster than Maxie thought it would. He spent the rest of the evening finishing up the book, not paying much attention to the outside world. Not until it was almost one in the morning, and that Archie’s parents already headed to bed did he realize how late it was (and also Archie told him what time it was. Archie usually has to do that, remind what time it was and that they should probably sleep).

So, Maxie found himself lying in Archie’s bed, completely fine with just sleeping in his red hoodie that he was wearing that day, glasses on the bedside table, with Archie sleeping on the floor (while Maxie would usually say something against it whenever he slept over and Archie would sleep on the floor with a pillow and blanket, Archie noticed how unnaturally quiet Maxie was that night). 

“...Are you sure you’re fine, Maxie?” Archie asked, deciding to finally ask him more about it. “I’ve never seen you this quiet before. I mean, I understand that you don’t wanna tell me ‘bout it, but-”

“Archie.”

“...Yeah?”

Maxie gave a small sigh. “Come up here.” Archie stared at him for a few moments, then got up, and laid on the bed next to him. At first, he wasn’t sure what to do, or if Maxie was even comfortable, but then, once he sank into it and let himself be comfortable, he wrapped his arms around Maxie and brought him just a bit closer, it coming to him almost naturally.

“You okay, Max?” Archie asked. He didn’t get an answer. “Maxie?” He still didn’t get an answer. He gave a sigh. “Max, c’mon. You’re my best friend, you can tell me anything. I mean, if you wanna just lay here quietly, that’s fine, too.”

“Yes...best friends. That’s all we are,” was all Maxie murmured, almost like he was reminding himself, quietly--quiet enough so Archie wouldn’t hear him. He shifted, pulling away from Archie’s arms, and put a little bit of space between them--laying down near and facing the wall. “I think we should just sleep, Archie. Okay?”

Archie stared at him for a few seconds, then gave a sigh. “Okay, Maxie. Good night.”   
  
Maxie shifted a little bit. “Good night, Archie.” The words hung in the air, almost uncomfortably. It had almost felt like Maxie wanted to say something, to open up to Archie, but he never said anything. Giving up, Archie gave another sigh, and fell asleep.

He really hoped that Maxie would tell him about it soon.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally, I planned on Maxie talking about what happened to him, but in the end, I decided not to, and just leave it up to the reader :)  
> I hope you enjoyed this! Kudos and comments are always appreciated. Thank you!


End file.
